Clay County
llirlliplnce of George W. Truelf
anil oilier famous men.
1лм*а1е<1
in the extreme western part of
the* slate it isn't as well known
to North Carolinians as it should
be.
Iff/ CARL GOLKCII
“|F you wnnt i" li
11»
I «*»ii something
I about the history of Clay County,"
“ said Mrs. John
С.
Campbell, of
Brasstowu, "IM suggest you go back
to the highwuy and »t the tilling sta¬
tion u little way down the road and
ask for Mr. Fred Srrogg*. He’s pretty
well acquaint»! with things around
here."
Wo had jucit had lunch with Mrs.
Campbell and some of the pupils at
the John C. Campbell Folks School.
Acting upon her suggestion, we drove
back to the highway ami, after mak¬
ing an inquiry or two, succeeded in
locating Mr. Fred Seroggs.
When we saw him we recalled that
wo had met him some six or seven
years liefore; at the time when some
men from the Smithsonian Institute
were digging into an Indian mound
in Cherokee County and were un¬
earthing all kinds of (lottery, skele¬
tons and various other things. We
mentioned our previous visit to Mr.
Seroggs.
“Yes, indeed." he -aid. "I remem¬
ber it very well. Glad you're hack up
this way.”
“Mrs. Campbell said," we told him,
"that you could tell
ч-
something
about the history of Clay County.”
“I’ll Is* glad to," he said, politely.
"What was it you wauled to know?"
"Let’s see; didn't I >o Soto lead an
expedition through this section ol thu
state in
1В40Г
He Most Assuredly Did
Mr. Seroggs slapped us on the
knee. "I’m glad you mentioned that.”
he said, “because if there's one person
who can tell you about it. I can. Tin-
story has been handed down in the
Seroggs family from one generation
to another and we've been very care¬
ful to keep all the facts straight.
"Yes. sir: it was back in 1540, ’long
about the middle of November. Grand-
pappy Julius Seroggs and his family
had just sat down to «upper when
there was a knock on the door. Grand-
pappy got up from the table and an¬
swered it. There. Oil the doorstep, stood
a man, and in the background were
some twenty or twenty-five others. The
•nan took off his hat ami said: 'Mr.
Seroggs ?’ And grandpappy said:
‘That's me.' The stranger said: ‘I'm
I»e Soto.' Grandpappy shook hands
and said : ‘Yes. indeed ; I've Imtii beem
tell about you. Come in, IK*, and rest a
while. I low'd you leave Ferdinand
and Isabella V l»e Soto said they were
all right, and he went
ОИ
into the
house with grandpappy."
We hated to interrupt Mr. Seroggs.
but there were one or two questions
which we just naturally hud to ask.
■‘Wait a minute, Mr. Seroggs,” we
told him. “We were under the impres¬
sion that De Soto and his men were
the first white men ever to have come
into this section of the country. If
that was so. how could your grund-
pappv, Julius, have been living here
at the time?”
Mr. Seroggs sal upright in his seat.
Fire Hashed from his eyes and an im¬
pressive frown
ар|и’ппч|
upon his
countenance. "That's easily explained,
sir." he said in chilly tones. "My
grandfather was a Seroggs."
We left there with a feeling akin
to awe and reverence. The Scruggses
are a wonderful family beyond a
doubt.
Clay County is a new county, com¬
paratively speaking. It did not conn-
ill to existent . util IStll ami is one
of the children of ( ’Imrokco County.
The other child, ill ease you're inter¬
ested in county genealogy, i. Gra¬
ham.
Named for Henry Clay
Clay wa- named for Henry Clay.
Hayesville. with a population of
some six or seven hundred, is the
county scat. It was nniiu-d for George
W. Hayes, who represented the dis¬
trict in the legislature ami sponsored
the hill which made the county an
actuality.
Mr. Evans and Mr. McCluer. They
told us about Dr. Truett's boyhood
days in Clay County.
The mineral resource, of the *••-•-
tion art* rich and varied, but for the
most part are undeVelo|ied. (odd ha.
Iieen found iu paying quant i lies. Tin-
most notable mines were operated at
Warne. Mien occurs in the higher
ridges, and in the valleys an- deposit,
of corundum, kaolin, magnetic iron
ore and other minerals.
In 183$, at the time of the < ’herokce
removal. Fort Kuihm-, on a hill one
mile southwest of Hayesville, w«. one
of ih«- collecting stockades. Hayesville
has an excellent high school and it', a
successor to the Hiek.ville Aeadein\
which was founded ill IW. h\ John
O. llicks. It wa. the oldct school in
the state west of Asheville and at¬
tracted .indent, from Georgia. Ten¬
nessee and Alabama, in addition to
those who attended from North Caro¬
lina.
Brasstown, with a population of
about
'-'-'И»,
is so called through the
white man’s false reinleriug "f the
Indian word meaning
/>/<»<■
of firth
